Adam Dorey: The Burnouts Are Coming
G’day mate! Let’s go for a skid or two and talk about Australian-style burnout competitions in the USA!
About twenty years ago, I stumbled across a grainy video on YouTube of some wacky lookin’ right-hand drive four door sedan with more of the blower and manifold outside of the engine bay than in it. This car was absolutely annihilating its rear tires to the point that the entire rear end burst into flames while the wheelman never let off the skinny pedal. It was the most insane display of horsepower I’d ever seen from a vehicle.
Sick Powerfest is coming. Do a burnout on the world’s biggest horsepower stage!
I watched that video in its entirety from the Summernats in Canberra, Australia, and I was instantly infatuated with this form of motorsport. It was such a different thing than the brake-stand burnouts I was used to seeing in the United States. These cars were carrying triple digit wheel speed, but were violently pirouetting around a skid pad with a level of chaos and control that, until recently I was sure I’d never see in person.
There was another person watching these kinds of videos, and even seeing it for himself: Garrett Mitchell AKA Cleetus McFarland.
While Garrett was still doing work with 1320 Video, the guys made a trip to Australia to watch Summernats 30, and both 1320 and Cleetus dumped a bunch of videos in January 2017, including Cleetus’ first skid.
As Garrett’s empire grew, he started his Cleetus and Cars events. These would become the most high profile USA shows for Australian-style burnouts. The good news is that there is still time to get in on the relative ground floorof burnouts here.
Someone asked me what I thought of the burnout competitions at a recent Cleetus and Cars Burnout Rivals event at Indianapolis and I replied: “It’s like reading the most beautiful poetry ever written while you repeatedly get punched in the face, but you never stop reading the poetry during.” It’s a mix between a mosh pit and ballet. It’s a world of rev-limiters, instantly overheating engines, unbelievable punishment of mechanical elements, and SO much tire smoke. At times the only indicator that a car is still unleashing violence is the occasional tire chunk flying into the fence, and the headers screaming engine death.
These are judged events. The Australian model allocates points for instant and constant tire smoke, constant revs (without holding the engine against the limiter), use of the entire pad and blowing both tires. Stopping or stalling, contact with barriers, failure to drive off the pad, fire, or failing to blow the tires within two minutes are all cause for loss of points.
There’s just a short window to display your control and mastery of the vehicle. But for those two minutes, it’s like you’re the rock star on a stage. Most of us don’t have the musical or vocal talents to be in that position, but anyone capable of automotive abuse qualifies for a burnout.
Having been to more of these events in person just recently, I can tell you that this form of motorsports, although in its toddler stage here in the States, is on the rise. If you’ve got some car or truck sitting around doing nothing, perhaps destined to never reach its elapsed time dreams, consider turning it into a burnout car.
Your next opportunity to get in on the action is coming up very soon - the Sick Powerfest Powered By Dodge, featuring the Sick World Burnout Championship! You’ll get to do a burnout on one of the world’s biggest burnout pads in front of thousands of people, all streamed live on FRDM+.
Car life offers us very few chances to be the center of attention in a positive way. Imagine yourself out there, spinning your tires until they blow as the crowd cheers…the adrenaline rush cannot be matched. As Tom Bailey would say, make your some day today!
— Adam Dorey
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